Monday, March 17, 2008

The Ron DeFore Collection: Silver Banjo 2



Today we are back to the short-lived Silver Banjo Restaurant in Frontierland. First pic of the day shows the different concepts that W.E.D. came up with for the signage, with the final choice at top left, circled in pencil. The signage was also featured prominently in the Silver Banjo postcard, with the only difference being that owner Don DeFore was featured inside the banjo itself. This is one of the rare postcards from Disneyland’s early years.



In this vintage photo, you can see Don standing in front of the finished sign, with his wife Marion and daughter Amy.



Last one for today shows you in living color what the sign looks like today, in the hands of Don’s son Ron:



See more vintage Silver Banjo photos at my website.

6 comments:

Major Pepperidge said...

Wow, that sign is fantastic! So glad that it still exists. It should be on display at the Walt Disney Family museum when it opens!

The Viewliner Limited said...

Absolutely fantastic DL history.

Unknown said...

Dave, this material from the Silver Banjo is priceless. What a great series! And, the Major is right - that sign is the best.

outsidetheberm said...

Really nice stuff. Thanks for letting us take a look, Dave & Ron.

Chris Merritt said...

WOW! That sign is amazing - so are the early signage concepts - awesome post Dave!

Anonymous said...

Dave - Thanks so much for posting all the Silver Banjo material from my collection. What I'm really enjoying is all the great interest from visitors to your site. I'm glad all this great stuff has a home on your site...I would never had the time to put it all together. I do encourage all to visit the site I put together (ten years ago when I used to have time!) honoring my father's career - www.defore.net
Thanks again, Dave
Ron DeFore